ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Shri Mansukh Mandaviya visits vaccine plant in Pune today
Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways  and Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya today visited vaccine manufacturing plant of the Serum Institute of India to get further acquainted with the vaccination production and to review the production of Vaccines in Pune. Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ms S. Aparna was also present.
Shri Mandaviya appreciated the exemplary role of Serum Institute of India during the pandemic. The Minister said that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is committed to support all our vaccine developers and manufactures for ensuring vaccine for all. He also discussed ramping up the production of Vaccines with the Manufacturers.
Later in the day, Shri Mandaviya also inaugurated the State-of-the-Art Facility for Manufacture of Alcoholic Hand Disinfectant at Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. Pimpri, Pune.
On the occasion the Minister said that HAL is the only Public Sector Enterprise, to have such facility in India. It is a hand disinfectant with alcoholic base hand rub to minimize all types of infection including COVID-19, he added. He further said that it is formulated in Propanol base and Ethanol base and is a very effective germ killer for all types of viruses and bacteria.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 185.04 Cr
Over 1.98 Cr vaccine doses administered for age group 12-14 years
India's Active caseload currently stands at 11,871
1,086 new cases reported in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently stands at 98.76%
Weekly Positivity Rate is presently at 0.22%
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 185.04 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,22,69,994 sessions.
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 1.98 Cr  adolescents have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The break-up of the cumulative figure as per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
10403904
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
10002798
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
4498875
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18413615
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
17516072
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
6946612
|
|
Age Group 12-14 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
19831257
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
57440351
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
38879910
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
554857433
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
468143382
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
202790758
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
185837174
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
126769720
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
115752286
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
12327422
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
2,37,72,909
|
|
Total
|
|
1,85,04,11,569
Following a continuous downward trend, India’s Active Caseload declines to today 11,871 Active cases now constitute 0.03% of the country's total Positive Cases.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.76%. 1,198 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients  is now at 4,24,97,567.
1,086 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 4,81,374 COVID-19 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 79.20 Cr  cumulative tests.
There has been a sustained fall in the weekly and daily Positivity Rates too. Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 0.22% and the Daily Positivity rate is also reported to be 0.23%.
|
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
|
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 215.67 Cr
Over 4.06 Cr 1st dose vaccines administered for age group 12-14 years
India's Active caseload currently stands at 45,749
5,108 new cases reported in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently stands at 98.71%
Weekly Positivity Rate is presently at 1.70%
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 215.67 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today.
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 4.06 Cr  adolescents have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Similarly, the COVID-19 precaution dose administration for age group 18-59 years also started from 10th April, 2022 onwards.
The break-up of the cumulative figure as per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,04,14,672
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,01,12,156
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
68,94,178
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,84,35,766
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,77,08,032
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
1,34,19,904
|
|
Age Group 12-14 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
4,06,90,829
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
3,09,89,333
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
6,18,18,801
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
5,27,15,122
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
56,09,68,415
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
51,45,82,753
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
7,99,18,314
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
20,39,74,478
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
19,66,79,928
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
4,24,66,194
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
12,76,30,750
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
12,29,51,451
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
4,43,35,498
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
18,70,34,088
|
|
Total
|
|
2,15,67,06,574
India’s Active Caseload currently stands at 45,749. Active cases now constitute 0.1% of the country's total Positive Cases.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.71%. 5,675 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients  is now at 4,39,36,092.
5,108 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 3,55,231 COVID-19 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 89.02 Cr  cumulative tests.
Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 1.70% and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 1.44%.
Ministry of Defence
CHIEF HYDROGRAPHER RECEIVES ALEXANDER DALRYMPLE AWARD
Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar, AVSM, NM, Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India received the Alexander Dalrymple award from the British High Commissioner, Mr Alex Ellis at a presentation ceremony held at the High Commissioner’s residence today at New Delhi. Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar was conferred with the prestigious award in 2019 but the award ceremony was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic. The Alexander Dalrymple award has been named after the first hydrographer of the Admiralty and was instituted in 2006.
The Admiral has been awarded the Alexander Dalrymple award in recognition of his unparalleled dedication, professionalism and leadership in the disciplines of hydrography and nautical cartography, not only as the Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India but throughout the Indian Ocean region. The Admiral’s unrelenting enthusiasm in continuing the skills and output across the Indian Ocean has increased safety, security, economic sustainability and development and environment protection for the whole region.
The Chief Hydrographer during the presentation ceremony stated that “Our Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR - Security AndGrowth for All in the Regionalongwith the push from United Nations for sustainability of our oceans, has been the driving force for the Hydrographic Department in extending all possible assistance including capacity building to littorals in the Indian Ocean Region and I have been fortunate in leading this department towards these goals. I also thank the UKHO Executive Committee for recognising this effort.”
Ministry of Defence
VISIT OF BRAZILIAN DELEGATION TO WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND
A three-member Brazilian delegation led by Admiral Flávio Augusto Viana Rocha, Special Secretary , Presidency & Advisor to President of Brazil, visited Headquarters Western Naval Command on 17 Mar 2022.
During the visit, Admiral Rocha interacted with Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. The two Admirals discussed various issues of mutual interest, including challenges and mitigating strategies in the maritime domain.
The FOC-in-C  brought out the Hon’ble PM’s vision of SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region - and Indian Navy’s maritime vision during the discussions and also suggested that Brazilian Navy ships, when deployed in the IOR, may visit Indian Ports. It was made known that the Indian Shipyards are well equipped to provide any technical support to the units deployed for prolonged duration away from their homeports.
After a formal briefing was made to the Special Secretary, he expressed his confidence in Indian Navy's capabilities and the desire for greater opportunities towards interaction between the two navies.
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Ministry of Education
Sikkim University's Computational Facility: Pioneering Breakthroughs in Science and Medicine
Sikkim University has unveiled its state-of-the-art Centralised High-Performance Computational Facility at the Department of Physics, revolutionizing research and education. With a dual mission of supporting diverse departmental research and fostering students' familiarity with modern computing, the facility is poised to transform academia.
Central to this initiative is the creation of an artificially intelligent 'smart' nuclear fusion simulator using Machine Learning  algorithms. By training physics-informed neural networks on experimental data, the simulator predicts future commercial fusion reactor designs, substantially reducing computational costs.
Quantum computing algorithms are another frontier Sikkim University is boldly exploring. Their new supercomputer acts as a catalyst for developing algorithms both for quantum systems and quantum computers, propelling the university to the forefront of quantum research.
This high-performance computational facility will be used to solve current research problems in the fields of physical and biological sciences as well- particularly to simulate large scale molecular systems and predict their physical and chemical properties through artificial intelligence  and Machine Learning .
Medical breakthroughs also take centre stage. The Network Reconstruction and Analysis  Lab, empowered by the supercomputing facility, tackles Alzheimer's and viral diseases. Through intricate network analysis, researchers unveil disease intricacies, offering insights into potential drug targets for these critical ailments. Furthermore, the lab's efforts expedite drug discovery by honing in on key network components that underpin diseases. This targeted approach promises to revolutionize medical research and treatment strategies.
The computational facility was inaugurated by Vice- Chancellor Prof. Avinash Khare on 24th August 2023 in the presence of officers, faculty members, staff and students of the University at the Department of Physics located at Gairi Gaon, Tadong.
Department of Mathematics, Sikkim University expands HPC applications horizon with the newly established facility of HPC centre at Sikkim University. The department unveils an ambitious plan to leverage High-Performance Computing  for breakthroughs in modelling and simulations, data analysis, and AI research. Cutting-edge infrastructure aims to accelerate advancements across diverse disciplines, reaffirming the department's commitment to pushing computational boundaries.
Sikkim University's computational facility redefines the boundaries of research, fostering innovation in nuclear fusion, quantum computing, and disease understanding. As they stand on the cusp of scientific advancements, Sikkim University cements its status as a beacon of innovation.
Vice President's Secretariat
Shri Atal ji brought connectivity revolution and paved way for development and growth: Vice President
He epitomized ‘politics of grace’;
Addresses Good Governance Day Celebrations
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the former Prime Minister, ‘Bharat Ratna’, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji brought connectivity revolution and paved way for development and growth. Addressing an event to commemorate the memory of the former Prime Minister on his birth anniversary, here today, Shri Naidu recollected his close association with Shri Atal ji and shared his experiences with him. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics & Programme Implementation, Shri Vijay Goel and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Shri Naidu said that Shri Atal ji was an astute parliamentarian, an administrator par excellence, a visionary statesman, an erudite scholar, a gifted orator, a most beloved leader, above all, a great human being who believed in the core Indian values of harmony and synthesis.
The Vice President said that Shri Atal ji implemented the reform agenda and delivered good governance to the nation amidst great challenges. He further said that good governance, providing a responsive administration to the people, especially to the most vulnerable sections of the society was centre to Vajpayee Ji’s administration. Atal Ji brought systematic changes in the governance of the country through technology, innovation and research to improve the lives of people, he added.
Shri Naidu said that ‘Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana’, ‘Golden Quadrilateral project’, ‘Telecom Revolution’, ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan’ or campaign for universal education and a series of measures taken by Shri Atal ji changed the face of India’s development story and accelerated the growth of Indian Infrastructure.
Referring to corruption in the context of good governance, the Vice President said that the highest cost of corruption was to be borne by the poor and expressed grief saying that most of the corruption was done in the name of the poor.
Shri Naidu said the initiatives such as Direct Benefit Transfer  eliminate middlemen and take the financial benefits of government schemes to the most deserving population by way of bank transfer to their own account.
Speaking about the importance of Good Governance Day that is being celebrated on the birth anniversary of Atal ji, the Vice President said that taking care of the needs of the poor and down trodden and keeping people at the centre of public administration was the key element of governance. Standing up to the expectations of people and their requirements is the great aspect of governance, he added.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID - 19 Vaccination Update - Day 393
India’s cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 172.75Crore
More than 44 lakh Vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed172.75 Crore  today. More than 44lakh  Vaccine Doseshave been administered till 7 pm today. More than1.72 Crore Precaution Doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries  for COVID vaccination have been administered so far. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight.
The cumulative coverage of vaccine doses, segregated based on population priority groups, is as follows:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
10399379
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
9930159
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
3876145
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18405049
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
17373764
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
5344760
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
51987388
|
|
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
14694234
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
547971374
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
426140948
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
201603878
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
176224094
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
125869357
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
109792049
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
7981961
|
|
Cumulative 1st dose administered
|
|
956236425
|
|
Cumulative 2nd dose administered
|
|
754155248
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
17202866
|
|
Total
|
|
1727594539
Today’s achievement in the vaccination exercise, segregated by population priority groups, is as follows:
|
|
Date: 12th February, 2022 
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
216
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
4041
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
31800
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
466
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
7449
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
88877
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
296271
|
|
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1250989
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
439149
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1467037
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
92232
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
319863
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
65696
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
202863
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
196733
|
|
Cumulative 1st dose administered
|
|
894030
|
|
Cumulative 2nd dose administered
|
|
3252242
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
317410
|
|
Total
|
|
4463682
The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.
Ministry of Power
NHPC celebrates ‘World Environment Day 2020’
The Central PSU distributes about 700 medicinal plants and trees amongst employees
NHPC’s India’s premier hydropower company and central PSU under Ministry of Power, celebrated the ‘World Environment Day 2020’ with great enthusiasm at its Corporate Office and also across all its regional offices, power stations and projects on 5th June 2020.
The main highlight of the celebrations at NHPC Office Complex was the inauguration of a ‘Herbal Park’ by Shri A.K. Singh, CMD, NHPC in the presence of Shri Ratish Kumar, Director , Shri N.K. Jain, Director , Shri M.K. Mittal, Director , Shri Y.K. Chaubey, Director  and Shri A.K. Srivastava, CVO. The Herbal Park has been developed with the objective of creating awareness amongst all the employees towards the medicinal importance of plants and herbs. During the celebrations a variety of herbal plants were also planted by CMD, Directors and CVO.
The occasion was also marked by the distribution of about 700 medicinal plants and trees amongst the employees so as to encourage them for the cause of environment and inculcate the sense of environmental conservation within themselves. Apart from NHPC Corporate Office and Residential Complex at Faridabad, large scale plantation drives were also undertaken across all NHPC regional offices, projects and power stations. During the celebrations, the social distancing norms were ensured.
The World Environment Day 2020 is widely celebrated globally for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. This year the theme of World Environment Day 2020 is ‘Biodiversity’.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Sleep organisation stabilizes among vipassana meditation practitioners: study
Researchers have found that practitioners of meditation transition from light to deep sleep faster, and their period of transition does not increase with age as against those who do not practice meditation, and duration of the deep sleep period is longest among the former, whereas this duration reduces with age among the latter. They have demonstrated organisation of sleep stabilizes among Vipassana meditation practitioners.
Frequent sleep transitions  are seen in sleep disorders, and with age, these transitions increase. Traditionally, meditation has been recommended as solution for ameliorating sleep disorders. However, scientific evidence on the relationship between meditation and sleep disorders was lacking.
A study by the National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences  has established the association between meditation and proper sleep organization as well as sleep stability.
The study supported by the SATYAM programme of the Department of Science and Technology, which investigated the importance of meditation on sleep organization and the correlation between sleep, meditation, and progress in well-being, demonstrated the distinct changes brought by Vipassana meditation practices on the sleep variables and hence on the macro-sleep architecture. The team led by led by Prof. Bindu M. Kutty explored the efficacy of Vipassana meditation on the micro-sleep architecture dynamics, especially the spindle dynamics and Electroencephalogram  dynamics that determine the role of meditation on the thalamocortical synchronizing mechanisms essential for sleep intensity and continuity, memory consolidation etc. The study was published in the journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface.
Several Event-related potential  responses generated by the brain have been identified during non-rapid eye movement  and REM sleep, and important ERPs during various stages of sleep have been demonstrated in the study. These ERPs responses are possible indicators of sleep stability.
Fig-1: Representative averaged sleep ERP for different sleep stages  from a meditator
A sleep protocol involving conventional sleep study , sleep ERPs and tACS was proposed, tested and standardized to infer sleep stability in control subjects and meditators. It includes indices/measures which capture sleep fragmentation , sleep initiation , sleep continuity, sleep deepening etc. With the help of this protocol, the study evaluated sleep stage transitions and continuity of sleep stages to evaluate the quality of sleep.
The work also provides a broad overview of the application of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulations  while sleeping on normal healthy individuals and meditators to modulate sleepiness, and evaluated the effect of tACS on the endogenously generated brain oscillations using different frequencies.
Fig-2: The four tACS stimulations are applied with three minutes inter stimulus interval and 30 seconds duration
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Draft Forest Policy and Tribals
“The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had kept the Draft National Forest Policy, 2018 in public domain for comments.
The basic thrust of the draft National Forest Policy of 2018 is for conservation, protection and management of forests along with addressing other issues associated with forest and forest management. To protect the interest of tribals, the Draft Policy of 2018 proposes to launch Community Forest Management Mission for management of community forest resources though a participatory forest management approach. Moreover, specific provisions have been made in the draft policy to ensure that the interests of local communities are protected and also provisions are made to consider them as partner in management of forests.
In addition, forest rights of tribals and others traditional forest dwellers are safeguarded under a separate Act, namely, “The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers  Act, 2006”  which recognizes and vests the forest rights of the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be vested”.
This information was given by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri L. Murugan condoles the demise of Madurai Adheenam Shri Arunagirinathar
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri L. Murugan has condoled the demise of Madurai Adheenam Shri Arunagirinathar. In a tweet, the Minister said, “Deeply saddened by the demise of Madurai Adheenam Shri Arunagirinathar, who served as the pontiff of Madurai Adheenam for 40 years that was established by Saint. Thirugnanasambandar.
Shri Arunagirinathar, the 292nd pontiff of Madurai Adheenam, was incharge of the Adheenam since 1980. He has presided over the Kumbabishekam ceremony of various temples. He has lectured in many schools, colleges and temple festivals.
Prior to taking over as the pontiff, late Shri Arunagirinathar worked as a journalist. The demise of Shri Arunagirinathar, the oldest pontiff of the spiritual world is a great loss. My heartfelt condolences to his devotees and those associated with the Adheenam.
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles the passing away of Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Mahendra Prasad
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief over the passing away of Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Mahendra Prasad.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"Saddened by the passing away of Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Mahendra Prasad Ji. He served in Parliament for many years and was at the forefront of several community service efforts. He always spoke for the welfare of Bihar and its people. Condolences to his family. Om Shanti."